Sonic Youth Gossip - Warpaint: LA's brilliant shoe-gazing, ambient rocking ladies

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- - Warpaint: LA's brilliant shoe-gazing, ambient rocking ladies (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=43536)

Warpaint: LA's brilliant shoe-gazing, ambient rocking ladies

I feel like a dumbass for having only just today this morning discovered this band, and by coincidence at that! They are fucking incredible!

I can't even begin to describe what I am enjoying most about this..

it has elements of every female artist/group I have ever enjoyed, the electro-pop of the sneaker pimps, the edge and teeth of excuse 17, the dreary, gothic ambience of Mazzy Star, the intricacy in guitar work of Helium, the explosive energy and dynamism of Grass Widow.. fucking superb music!

Quote:

About

Warpaint is an all-girl quartet from Los Angeles. They weave intricate guitar lines, hypnotic vocals, and driving post-punk rhythms into gorgeous, sprawling songs that skirt the line between the soundscapes of psychedelia and intimacy.
In early 2009, their self-released debut EP Exquisite Corpse soared straight to #1 on legendary Los Angeles Amoeba Records’ local artists chart. By September 2009, Manimal Vinyl reissued it on CD and vinyl, complete with a new bonus track, ‘Krimson’. Mixed by John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), the EP successfully captures the band’s sonic textures and playful dynamism that they’re notorious for creating in a live setting. With a buzz already in the air, Warpaint is now beginning to stir the masses with praise in the US and abroad. Dazed and Confused calls Exquisite Corpse “a collection of magical psychedelia drifting over sublime moments of raw melody courtesy of the three free ethereal vocalists,” while The Independent adds, “They make a quite lovely sound with dreamy vocals, off-kilter hazy guitars.”
Onstage, Warpaint’s disarmingly authentic package can shake a room into a dance frenzy, while simultaneously holding it in a trance-like dreamworld. Playing to many captivated audiences, Warpaint has opened for Yeasayer, Black Heart Procession, and The Slits to name a few. Warpaint took on a hectic 2009 fall touring schedule including a series of shows opening for Brooklyn-based trio School of Seven Bells, followed by numerous performances at CMJ Music Marathon, a series of headlining shows, and an opening spot for Band of Horses.
The band’s debut full-length album is due out on Rough Trade Records later this year.
Warpaint is Emily Kokal (vocals/guitar), Theresa Wayman (guitar/vocals), Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass/vocals), and Stella Mozgawa (drums).

WarPaint @ myspace
official site

even better, a good quality bootleg of a gig at the spaceland, apparently the magic is in the stage show

this gig was solid gold, one of the finest things i have ever heard, what rock have I been hiding under here in LA that I had yet to notice these ladies yet? Oh yeah, I been haunting Long Beach, not the westside, I only venture west for certified shows I know, so I don't necessarily get caught up with the new scene (plus the scene in LA is so lackluster I often neglect it for a reason ;) )

FINALLY

all girl bands are getting GOOD!!!

love the album...im amazed it took so long for these to mentioned on here.....

a friend of mine is really into 'em....I.....not so much....but meh.

this band has really had me reflecting on original LA music and what LA has contributed to the Americana music tradition. Each region has its thing, and LA seems to have cornered two kinds of innovative and original musics, west-coast hip-hop/gangsta rap and dark, dreary, ambient rock music.

The epitome of this indigenous LA sound of course is found in tool, but was even obvious in the beginnings of our scene with the Doors. Also Autolux or Mazzy Star and even Black Flag show a bit of LA's darker side. A lot of the bands I know delve into ambient, dark, emotive music and also a lot of soundscapes which is another LA original. My own original music also bears this dark finger-print, and I also emphasize ambient, atmospheric, shoe-gazing guitar rock relying on dreary, bass-lines, drone electronic effects, heavy drum work, and the original LA guitar work I think again tool best acccentuates. This band WarPaint are almost like LA's all-girl tool, and it shows. They are perfectly representing the LA sound, but our sound is so obscure, so individualized that it is not quite popular or accessable, which is interesting. We are a niche genre of music, for those who like to here dreary stuff. Truly, bands like earth and other stoner rock bands probably would have done better here in LA then up north, where people have a taste for such music. Quite a few of the dreary LA music people who adore tool also listen to the stoner rock which is similar in sound and color..

I must admit I love it, not just because I play it, but because it touches me, but I am not quite sure how or what in particular does it or creates it.

The band sound lovely.

I think the band got a mention in the NME's pick of the new crop of acts coming out of the States.

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Originally Posted by loubarret

meh

about the band or the darkness of LA's indigenous sound?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keeping It Simple

The band sound lovely.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Keeping It Simple again.

Heard a track on the radio last night - didn't blow my mind.

Anyway, here's some UK tour dates.

London O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire (February 21, Shockwaves NME Awards Show)
Cambridge Junction (May 11)
Oxford O2 Academy (13)
Manchester Gorilla (14)
Dublin Tripod (15)
Bristol O2 Academy (17)
Birmingham HMV Institute (18)
Leeds Met Students' Union (19)
Lancaster Library (20)
Newcastle O2 Academy (23)
Sheffield Leadmill (24)

I'm going to see them in March.

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Originally Posted by Decayed Rhapsody

I like them.

agreed

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Originally Posted by hevusa

I'm going to see them in March.

I am envious. This band is very much like the Dead, their true dynamics and nuances don't seem to translate into the albums, the bootlegs I have of the material live is soooo much more enthralling then the album versions, the albums are almost disappointing in comparison.. I was just trolling their site hoping for an upcoming LA show, but they flossin in the pacific rim..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decayed Rhapsody

I like them.

me too post.

didnt' discover them until Nov. or so. looking forward to seeing them in March

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbQhbbma8Gs

Bees live session. So awesome.